Part Three: Hold You
by k-kizkhalifa
Summary: [Part three of The Fast Enough series.] Keith just wants to keep her safe, he doesn't want to see her hurt again or more importantly he doesn't want to be the reason she is hurt again.


**A/n:** No beta, not part of Kiz's Kidge AU. Part three of Fast Enough Series.

 **Warnings:** Soulmate!AU, Language(?).

 **Noteworthy AU:** Soulmate (See end for an in-depth explanation), Keith never left Voltron, slight age up (18/20) for more adult feel.

* * *

 **Keith glanced up the stairs, Katie had gone** straight to her lab as soon as she was released from the infirmary ward he was told. He had been out with Lance and Shiro getting supplies, of course with her permission and her promise she wouldn't go anywhere. But she had. To her lab.

He was nervous, scared... skittish, which was weird in and of itself. He couldn't remember the last time he had felt like this, well he could. A few days ago, when he woke her and told her the truth but this was different. There wasn't anything for them to hide behind now. Keith didn't have her in a hospital bed to hide behind and she didn't have a reason to shy away from him any longer.

He was still coming to terms with the fact she was his soulmate and he knew it was showing, now more than ever. He could hear her on the other side of the door. She was talking to someone and he only assumed it was Hunk.

He paused at the door for a second taking a deep breath to calm himself then he pressed the button on the door and it slid open to show Pidge laying on the ground on her back a robot hovering near her feet, she peeked out from under the lab table and smiled, "Keith!"

"Hey?"

"We're fixing the computer system," she explained, "Coran said there was a lag of some sort."

 _Stupid Coran,_ Keith thought in annoyance, _she should be taking it easy not laying on the floor._

"I think I'm getting it sorted," she continued, holding her hand without a word more and the robot flew towards her giving her some tool.

"Oh," he crouched down next to her, "how's your side?"

"Sore," she admitted before setting up, "but I'll live." She grinned as she met his eyes, "that's a joke, we can laugh at those."

"Ha, ha." He answered dryly, it was much more serious to him than it was to her. "Not funny, Katie."

She tilted her head with a smile, "lighten up Keith."

"Maybe when you're not riding a deathbed."

"I'm not," she answered, and jumped to her feet with a slight wince, "I'll be tip-top condition in no time. You'll have to find something else to worry about."

Keith frowned, _I think I'll always worry about you,_ he thought deeply and watched her pull the chair up before she set to work on the keys. "I'll let you do your thing," he added a little dejectedly and Katie dropped her hands and turned to face him, "w-what?"

"What's wrong?" She asked immediately, getting to her feet and approaching him, "are you okay?"

"What?"

"Your voice," she frowned, "you're upset?"

"Uh..." He frowned, "how can you tell from my voice?"

She flushed, "I've been obsessed with you for quite a while," she muttered, her hand coming out to wrap around her clothed hip. "Sorry, I just...?"

"It's okay," he offered a smile and reached out, taking her hand within his own, "it's nice, thank you." She took a nervous breath, her heart speeding up slightly and he felt it within his own chest, "how long until I don't affect you?"

"I'm not sure that'll ever go away," she whispered, and he pulled her closer, "give me five minutes and I'm yours."

"I'll go clean up," he brought her hand to his lips with a soft kiss, "it should be about time for dinner then."

"Okay," she felt his hands brush through her hair, his palm cradling the back of her head and tilting her back softly before his lips found hers with a soft kiss, and he felt her suck in a deep breath before her own hands met his body. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer, her body flush against his.

" _Pidge_?" Coran's voice came from the hallway but they didn't hear him, they were tuning everything out except each other. Keith was holding her softly and Pidge was holding him with a hunger that put lust to shame.

It was all they could think about, _Katie_. _Keith_. That was it, not another thought in their minds, Keith felt her legs shake and he hooked his arm around her waist, not breaking the kiss, so he could hold her up and Katie let him. She melded right into his arms, into his touch, clinging to him with a tight grip from her fingers.

She had two years to think this through, to imagine this, to be swept away and every thought she ever had wasn't even close to as good as this was. This was perfect. This was heaven.

Keith wanted her as much as she wanted him, Keith was just as hungry for her. It was a driving force that was working through him, it was a driving force that was making him drink her up. It was a driving force that was directing him to put his lips to her neck, it was her sigh as she wrapped her legs around his waist that told him to bite her.

Katie gasped loudly in his ear, her eyes popping open the moment she felt his teeth against her neck and she let out a whispered, " _Keith!_ "

"Katie," he pulled back with a grin, "you like that?"

"I do," she was flushed and trying to hide when her eyes fell on a frozen Coran who was halfway through the door with a smirking Hunk behind him. "Hunk!" She gasped, scrambling down from Keith's arms, falling to the ground with a hard thud when the man holding her let go and jerked around towards the door in shock.

"Hey," Hunk grinned, wiggling his eyebrows teasingly.

"A-Almost done," she got her feet after a second, slamming herself in the chair and effectively ignoring Keith who was just as red in the face as she was.

"Right," he cleared his throat and backed up, "I'll see you at dinner." Katie gave half a nod as he backed out of the room, only laughing when the door closed.

" **What the hell are you doing?" Keith's voice cut** through the small training room loudly though the only things that froze were the bots, bots that Katie was leaping through the air and cutting down with the rope of her Bayard. "Katie, what the fuck?!"

"Training," she breathed out with a stretch, "want to join?"

"Join?" He punched the red 'stop' button just as the bots started to reset and they disappeared through the ground, as he stomped towards her.

"Hey!"

"You're supposed to be taking it easy, Pidge!" He roared and she glared at him with a nasty look on her face, "what the fuck?"

"I have to train before I can get cleared to go back out in the field!" She matched his yell, "you need me for Voltron!"

"We're managing just fine!"

"It's been a week," she glared, "I have to train, I have to get back out there."

"We're doing just fine," he said in the same cutting tone and Katie huffed in response, the door sliding open behind them had Keith turning around with a yelled, "get out!"

Katie peered over his shoulder to see Shiro and Lance quickly backing out before she turned back to Keith, "would you be nice to people?" She snapped, "I mean honestly." She flexed her hand and her Bayard disappeared quickly as she turned away from him.

"Don't walk away from me."

"Stop that," she swatted his hand away when he reached for her, "you're my soulmate, Keith Kogane, not my father!"

He blinked in shock, his eyes growing wide as he focused on her again shaking the sting off his hand, "Katie," he whispered softly, "I..."

"No," she hissed, "you don't get to tell me what to do or how to do it," she spat, "I'm training, I have to train... I can't stay 'recouping' forever at some point Voltron will be needed again."

"The last time you went out you threw yourself into a bullet."

"To save you," she turned around, hands on her hips and fixing him with a glare, "to save you, Keith, not for the hell of it."

"And what of the next time?"

"Plan on needing me to do that a lot?"

Keith rolled his eyes, "how do they do it?" He finally asked, sagging slightly, "it's like I have a constant bubble of worry building inside of me."

"I do too," she snapped, "but you don't see me screaming at you and everyone around to keep you safe."

"I..." Keith frowned, "it was my fault, Katie."

"Hardly," she sighed and sunk down on the bench, "I wasn't in my right mind Keith, nothing about that was your fault."

"What do you mean?"

"I was worn out," she admitted and unclasped her armor, relaxing against the wall with a tired sigh. "I wasn't thinking straight, my body was at its limit and my mind had one singular thought all the time, just you..." She eased the armor off and let it drop to the ground beside her, "you were the only thing I could think about, each day was getting harder. It was like every time I looked at you it was on the tip of my tongue." She pulled her black undershirt up and peered down at her side, the wound was red and inflamed - overworked. "It could have been anything that sent me over the edge, it wasn't like I was thinking it was just instinct. _Save him_. It was the only thought I had, _save him._ Save you. So I did," she placed her hand against her side, her fingers brushing over the numbers on her hip and she looked up to see him watching her hand.

"Like when I was in the chamber, how you just knew?" She tried, gathering his attention again, "Allura told me about it, it's the same thing. Except my way of saving your life ended a bit different than you saving mine."

"Katie," he dropped down in front of her, "oh how I wish you had told me that night, or anytime you had a chance since then... How I wish we could have had the past two years to figure each other out." He chuckled leaning forward and cupping her cheek, "but, I have now to make it up to you." He paused to give her a quick kiss, "and that doesn't mean it's going to be easy, but it does mean I can stop freaking out no matter how hard it is."

"I know I'm not the only person that would appreciate that," she chuckled, letting her hand fall from her side before she brushed her fingers through his shaggy hair. "I'm sure everyone else on the ship would too."

"I'm sure," he smirked, and tilted his head to the side, "anything I can do for your side?"

"I just need to stretch it," she said with a weary voice, "what if it doesn't get back to normal?"

"You were shot," he whispered, leaning forward to press a kiss against the red, throbbing wound, "it'll just take some time. Let's stretch." He added, pulling her off the bench to join him on the floor mats, "what feels best?"

"Sometimes just laying," she admitted and laid back, with her arms above her head. She wore a sour face as she got comfortable on the ground and Keith soon joined her once he made sure she was comfortable enough. "I can feel it relaxing," she huffed out softly as he laid back.

"Good," he rolled to his side watching her, his hand rubbing the muscles slowly and carefully. "Maybe tomorrow we can focus on more pinpointed training to help you re-strengthen your side?" He asked, "if you want, of course, might make the transition easier."

"I think that sounds like a good idea," she closed her eyes, relaxing against the mat and letting her shoulders unwind, "it makes me exhausted."

 _Because you're overworking yourself,_ Keith thought but refrained from saying anything, instead, he just rubbed her side watching as she started to drift off. Part of him thought to wake her up, to stop her but the other part was mesmerized by the way she looked. So peaceful and soft, so comfortable. One of her hands was around his wrist, holding on to him as he rubbed her side, the other tucked behind her head and she was talking nonsense about some computer system Hunk and her were building that would allow them to track the bases that were still needing liberation. Keith was hearing her, but he wasn't listening to her. It wasn't that he didn't care it was just that it didn't make sense to him, so instead of trying to grasp on he just pretended to listen giving her minimal responses and Pidge was okay with that. She was just filling the silence with something so she didn't say something she'd regret.

But when she suddenly stopped talking and a soft snore came from her half-open mouth, Keith got up and gathered her in his arms carrying her out of the training room and down to the Paladin's rooms.

She slept at the end of the hallway and he couldn't deny he felt a little nervous about going in there, he had only been in there one time and that was while she was in the infirmary wing, it was just long enough to grab her favorite blanket for her the first night.

He hovered at the door before pressing the keypad button and it slid open. Her room was ever the disaster, clothing and papers and electronics were all over the ground. He was careful as he made his way through the mess before he got to her bed and laid her down. Katie rolled out of his arms and he looked down in shock finding she was barely awake, blinking the sleep from her eyes, "sorry."

"It's okay," he smiled sitting on the mattress, "your side feel okay?"

"Much better, thank you." She scooted towards him just barely with a warm blush crossed her cheeks her heartbeat speeding up slightly, enough that Keith could feel it within his own chest, "Keith, would you like to stay with me?"

"I..." He wanted to, more than anything but he was scared. He was terrified. _What if I'm not good enough for her?_ The thoughts crept back in like they had been since he found out about their numbers, _stupid numbers._

"If you want," she sat up, rejection and shame washing over her, "I'm sorry... it's still weird for you, isn't it?"

"Uh..."

"It's okay, I understand," she gave a forced laugh that didn't match her eyes.

"Katie," he shook his head, "you're perfect." He said suddenly and took her by the chin, making her look up at him and he smiled a real smile, "are you sure you want me to?"

"I've been dreaming about sleeping with you for a long time, Keith." She swallowed, her eyes growing wide after she said it, "I... uh, I mean- like, y'know, in bed. Sleeping."

"Calm down." He grinned, "I understand what you mean."

"So, is that a yes?"

"It's a yes," he stood up long enough to strip his jacket and boots, deciding to leave his tank-top and pants on, while Katie was doing the opposite and working her training pants off leaving her in a pair of panties and her black undershirt, her bra soon to follow her pants before Keith laid down.

She hurried to get the covers corrected, pulling them up around herself and the side of the bed he was going to lay on, once she was situated Keith crawled under the covers. Katie didn't give him too long before she rolled against him and laid her head against his chest, "this okay?"

"Perfect," he rubbed her back slowly and softly.

"Goodnight Keith."

"Goodnight Green," Keith whispered, pressing his lips to the top of her head.

 **He woke suddenly, abruptly,** Katie was pressed to her side still asleep but he felt something course through his body that he wasn't expecting. It reminded of the day he brushed her branded numbers, that cursed date he would forever cherish and resent.

Keith blinked as another feeling worked through his body and he flashed his eyes open, focusing, her hand was gripping his arm and he shot up quickly, shoving her away as he threw himself against the wall.

"Keith!?" Pidge raised up startled awake, she knew it was still late by the fact moonlight was still streaming through her window and she flipped on her bedside lamp, "Keith?"

He was pressed hard against the wall, his eyes wide and following her as she sat up rubbing her eyes, "are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah," he cleared his throat, "you were touching me."

"Touching you?" She focused on him in question.

"My arm," he covered his arm at the mention, "uh- I'm okay. Sorry."

Katie sat up properly, reaching towards him, "it's late, come back to bed?"

"Yeah," Keith moved off the wall and took her hand, crawling up on the bed again. He slid in next to her, taking a deep breath as she pressed herself against his chest.

"So that's what happens...?" She questioned after a moment, "I wonder how come I didn't feel anything?"

"Maybe because you were asleep?" His voice shook as he answered and he shook a shiver off, "I'm not sure."

"I'm sorry about that," Katie promised and reached up pressing a kiss to his cheek.

"Not your fault," he said quickly, giving her a tight hug.

They were quiet but neither were sleeping and Katie broke the silence, again, first. She shifted up his body, arching herself up on her arm, "Keith?"

"Yeah?" He asked, turning towards her.

Katie licked her lips nervously before leaning towards him slowly, her lips hovering over his and he reached up closing the distance to meet hers. Katie was fire to his gasoline. Her hands knotted in his hair, keeping him close, her legs sliding open against his so she was on top of him.

Keith caught her by the hips easily, matching her kiss as best he could but she was consuming him. It was all he could do to keep up with her. Katie wanted everything and all at once, she didn't want to wait for it. She wanted him close and undressed and his hands against her and his lips on hers, they were a mess of hands and groans. It was only when Keith flipped them around, throwing Katie against the mattress that either took a moment to think.

"Shit! Are you ok-?"

"Shut up," Katie whispered against his lips, nibbling on his bottom one softly before teasing him with her tongue and she brushed her thumb against his date. Keith gasped, grinding against her at the mere touch and she took the moment to fill his mouth with her tongue tasting him and brushing her tongue against his.

Keith kissed her back, wrapping his own tongue around her's and his hand found her hips. She flashed her eyes open and pulled back from his kiss when he brushed his thumb over her own brand. "Keith," she moaned loudly but neither was thinking about that. They just had each other on their mind and it showed.

He wrapped his fingers around her tank-top jerking it up and over her head quickly, tossing it behind them to the ground and she did the same to his own shirt. He lowered his head to her breast, giving it a hard suck and lapping at her pert nipple while his other hand wrapped her free breast with a kneading motion, before dragging his tongue across to it with a suck and lap at her nipple.

 _Bite._ Filled his mind and Keith tested the waters with the thought. His teeth grazing her nipple lightly, Katie arched her back pressing herself more towards his mouth, " _God._ " She whispered, her head falling back against the pillow and it was all Keith wanted to hear, she gave a more pinpointed bite and a playful tug just to hear her cuss again and Katie Holt did not disappoint, " _fuuuuuck_." She breathed out, writhing beneath his body, wrapping her leg around his waist, "Keith, please."

He finally let her breast from his mouth and sat back on his knees, hooking his fingers around the waistband of her panties, sliding them down her legs, he bent and kissed her flat stomach before dragging his tongue around her belly button and teasing the tiny hole, his hands tight against her hips and holding her in place. He trailed his tongue with a hot, wet trail over to her right hip and with one quick glance up at her he dragged his tongue over the branded numbers teasingly and Katie was a mess. She squirmed against the bed, against his hold and Keith could have done that all day. All night. Forever.

"Keith, for the love of God." She begged, reaching down towards him and giving his hair a hard pull, earning a moan from him in return as he followed her tug up her body. "Stop teasing me."

"It's fun," he whispered against her cheek and she turned towards his lips, smiling as she kissed him. "Some time I'm going to make you cum with just my mouth." He growled when she dragged her nails down his arm, the blunt tips digging at the date, **[03.24.2060].** That cursed date, that cursed brand he had on his arm forever, for once he wasn't hating it. For once he was happy it was there.

Katie was flushed, brushing herself against him, and she felt him losing his own pants before his heavy length was resting against her. She covered her face with a hand when she felt his fingers slid along her slit, "look at me." His voice was soft as he said it, his eyes searching her. "Are you sure, Katie?"

"More than anything," she breathed out, cupping his face with her hands and he kept their eyes locked as he pressed in between her legs slowly filling her. Katie arched her back, her shoulders pressing to the mattress and her side giving strain as Keith pulled her hips up to meet him.

The small tinge was the last thought on her mind, all she wanted was Keith and to keep him buried inside of her. He rocked deep inside of her as she wrapped a leg around his waist and positioned herself beneath him, her hands were hard against his chest, her lips finding his neck and shoulders with small nibbles and kisses as she rocked against him and he pushed himself in and out of her.

Everytime his thumb brushed over her brand, her moan filled the room with his name lacing the noise. It was harsh and sudden and rocked Keith to the core. His stomach clenched at the way the words sounded, his lips closing over hers to drink her in.

"Keith," she breathed heavily, not sure how to say it but Keith already knew and he laid her flat on the bed, her leg within his grasp and he rocked against her slowly, deeply as she came hard around him. A new blush filled her cheeks and she turned away into the pillows, hiding from him even when he said her name to call her back.

Keith slowed his thrust down, pulling out and taking himself in his hand. His eyes roamed her body, his lips to her neck since he couldn't reach hers and he came hard and fast against her stomach before he collapsed against her body.

Katie finally turned to him, feeling his cheek pressed against her chest. She brushed her fingers through his hair, nuzzling against him. They laid together, calming down for some time until eventually Katie drifted off and Keith shifted out of her hold to clean them up. Once he made sure her stomach was cleaned up, and his chest and hand, he crawled up against her and curled around her, holding her close and drifting off to sleep.

* * *

 **Noteworthy AU** : Soulmate. In this soulmate AU, they have corresponding numbers/dates they meet their soulmate. They are placed on their bodies in parts that relate to their personality. Keith's: On his arm, he is brash and abrupt, but able to hide. Pidge's: on her hip, she is grounded and conserved only available when she feels intimate.

 **The date:** 03/24/2060 was a bit of a guess, we know that Voltron: LD takes place in the future but from a few fan theories and articles I read related to the timeline it seems to not be so far into the future it is unrelatable. It's only a guess at the year and time. ~ kiz


End file.
